Anyone out there cook with Indian spices? I saw a recipe that calls for fenugreek leaves. I have some of the seeds, both ground and whole, but cannot find the leaves locally. I can order them on amazon, but wonder if it is necessary and whether there is any flavor difference. Thanks!(Right now I'm eating a cabbage, zucchini dish I made this morning using some Indian spices...I just love those flavors!)

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I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

DH is currently on a Quest to Find the Fenugreek Leaves. He says there is a difference is taste, but I don't know what it is. Meanwhile he is using the fenugreek seeds and things still taste pretty good to me....

I heard the seeds can be a little bitter and seem to recall noticing that in the past. Maybe the leaves are not. I used ground seeds this morning and it was good.I'd like to have some asafoetida (hing), too, but don't know what brand to get.

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I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

You might have some luck searching for 'methi' instead of 'fenugreek' leaves. Here, at least, they're more likely to be sold under that name. There is a difference in flavour, but it is the same basic note, like the difference between leaf and seed coriander. Seeds are much stronger-tasting. But they'd most likely be used differently, each to its best advantage- seeds fried early on in the cooking process, with the other spices, and the more delicately-flavoured leaves added near the end as an accent. So if you have seeds you probably don't *need* leaves for the fenugreek taste, unless you're adding them to something like a raw salad etc. where seeds would be too intense.

You might have some luck searching for 'methi' instead of 'fenugreek' leaves. Here, at least, they're more likely to be sold under that name. There is a difference in flavour, but it is the same basic note, like the difference between leaf and seed coriander. Seeds are much stronger-tasting. But they'd most likely be used differently, each to its best advantage- seeds fried early on in the cooking process, with the other spices, and the more delicately-flavoured leaves added near the end as an accent. So if you have seeds you probably don't *need* leaves for the fenugreek taste, unless you're adding them to something like a raw salad etc. where seeds would be too intense.

I'll try looking for it under that name. We have a natural food store here that carries lots of unusual things and I asked them for fenugreek leaves. Maybe I'll ask again, but for methi. Thanks for the info.

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I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

FYI about asafoetida: It smells SUPER bad. Like, so bad, I immediatly started gagging, had to double bag the bottle, and throw it out.

If you do buy it, definitely do NOT take a whiff, and only add a little to your dish.

I have heard that about the smell. I heard that it can substitute, flavor-wise, for onions or garlic and that you use just a little.

Intriguing bit of trivia featuring the equivalence above, read of in a book by the Indian cookery writer Madhur Jaffrey; concerning Kashmir, the state which is a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. The divide there along religious lines, even affects culinary matters. Hindus in Kashmir are big users of asafoetida, but do not use onions or garlic in cooking. Kashmiri Muslims regard asafoetida with disdain, and do cook with onions and garlic.

FYI about asafoetida: It smells SUPER bad. Like, so bad, I immediatly started gagging, had to double bag the bottle, and throw it out.

If you do buy it, definitely do NOT take a whiff, and only add a little to your dish.

I have heard that about the smell. I heard that it can substitute, flavor-wise, for onions or garlic and that you use just a little.

Intriguing bit of trivia featuring the equivalence above, read of in a book by the Indian cookery writer Madhur Jaffrey; concerning Kashmir, the state which is a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. The divide there along religious lines, even affects culinary matters. Hindus in Kashmir are big users of asafoetida, but do not use onions or garlic in cooking. Kashmiri Muslims regard asafoetida with disdain, and do cook with onions and garlic.

That is interesting. I actually have two of her books (which I am now wondering why I'm not using in my current Indian food quest... )

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I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

FYI about asafoetida: It smells SUPER bad. Like, so bad, I immediatly started gagging, had to double bag the bottle, and throw it out.

If you do buy it, definitely do NOT take a whiff, and only add a little to your dish.

I have heard that about the smell. I heard that it can substitute, flavor-wise, for onions or garlic and that you use just a little.

Intriguing bit of trivia featuring the equivalence above, read of in a book by the Indian cookery writer Madhur Jaffrey; concerning Kashmir, the state which is a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. The divide there along religious lines, even affects culinary matters. Hindus in Kashmir are big users of asafoetida, but do not use onions or garlic in cooking. Kashmiri Muslims regard asafoetida with disdain, and do cook with onions and garlic.

That is interesting. I actually have two of her books (which I am now wondering why I'm not using in my current Indian food quest... )

IMO, Madhur is great. She keeps things wonderfully clear and simple -- on a scene (the cuisine of the Indian sub-continent) where the potential complicatedness of stuff can easily go over-the-top berserk.

Whether you can substitute leaves with seeds depends on your recipe. If you're making methi rice, for example, you need to use fresh leaves. But if you're just using some dried leaves for a bit of flavor, then you might be able to get away with using seeds instead. If you can find an Indian grocery store in your city they will carry seeds as well as fresh and dried leaves.